Date of Award
Summer 2006
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
English
First Advisor
Curran, John E.
Second Advisor
Zurcher, Amelia
Third Advisor
Karian, Stephen
Abstract
This project took shape during a summer fellowship at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. I was investigating the subject of editorial intervention in the printed texts of Katherine Philips when I came to realize that a more complex system of influence was at work in shaping those early printed texts. I began to see that Philips's "Matchless Orinda" persona was a constructed identity resulting from more than simply editorial shaping. This realization and the work that followed inform this study of literary authority in Katherine Philips's work and identity. I While conducting bibliographical research, I was able to examine a number of compelling early printed texts that helped shape my understanding of this subject, but these texts did not always find their way into this particular study. Still, I look forward to the time when I may return to those neglected volumes and bring to light the insights therein. Moreover, I hope to one day pursue further study in the fascinating subject of editorial intervention of early texts. It is important to note that my own process of realization on the subject at hand did not occur without the help of so many people. As a fellow at the Huntington Library, I often found myself more compelled by the discussions I had with other fellows during coffee and lunch breaks than by my own work. What I realize now, is that those discussions were integral to my own scholarship. It was through these somewhat casual exchanges that I began to articulate the problems I wanted to explore as a scholar of Philips and of seventeenth-century texts. I am confident that my realizations about Philips's work were fermented in those conversations with other Huntington fellows and with the extraordinary Huntington staff. This exchange of ideas and the range of scholarly work I was exposed to were truly stimulating and gave me my first tangible experience as a scholar.